Why Putin Wants Ukraine

He sees a timid West and the chance to rebuild Greater Russia.

Updated Feb. 21, 2014 11:11 a.m. ET

The Sochi Olympics have showcased the face of Russia that President Vladimir Putin wants the world to see—spanking new, an international crossroads, and a revived global power. This is a comely veneer. The real Russia is on display this week in Kiev, where Ukraine's government prodded by the Kremlin is attacking peaceful protestors with guns and truncheons. This is the Russia that the West needs to understand and resist.

The central fact of the Ukraine crisis is that it has been created and stoked from Moscow. Last autumn...